While the Stanley Cup party is still going strong in La-La Land after the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the New Jersey Devils in the final, there will be no rest for the weary as teams prepare to get down to business.

Yes, a long summer (and fall), complete with labour strife, may lie ahead with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire Sept. 15, but it will be business as usual when teams gather next weekend in Pittsburgh.

The fans who pack the stands for the first round Friday at the Consol Energy Center might want to temper their excitement because some of the guys sitting at those tables making the picks are less than thrilled.

“It’s (bleeping) terrible,” said one Eastern Conference executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “This year’s draft has to be the worst draft in 12 years.”

Everybody is going to do their mock drafts. But here’s one guarantee: Nobody is going to be right. This could go several different ways.

“There’s all kinds of factors involved here,” said one director of player personnel. “No. 1 is the Russian factor because they’ve got lots of options with the Kontinental Hockey League offering big money. No. 2 is the lack of depth factor because there isn’t much here.

“No. 3, this draft is unpredictable. I get the sense that you might see teams go off the board after No. 10. There is a huge dropoff and that’s when teams might decide that they want to take a chance on another player. Not saying it will happen, but it certainly could.”

None of the players are considered sure superstars. No, that’s not a prerequisite for making a No. 1 pick, but general managers and scouts don’t want to be embarrassed with a failed pick, either.

“It’s just a bad year,” the East executive said. “There are just a lot of warts on a lot of the players. There’s just not as many slam-dunk guarantees as there normally are right from the top. If you take some of these guys, you wonder what you’re going to get out of them.

“Some of these guys could be superstars, but there are nights when they’re completely invisible. There’s a lot of guessing going on — and more than there normally is. Any time you’re going in a draft, it’s always a guessing game because you’re dealing with kids, but you really have to roll the dice in this one here.”

Scouts normally drool before the draft, making their lists and checking them twice in anticipation. That isn’t the case this year. It is difficult for teams to predict what might happen at the top.

A poll of five scouts on the top five selections can easily produce five different lists, which means it’s going to be tough for the Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs, the top selectors.

There are differing opinions on what route Oilers GM Steve Tambellini might take at No. 1. Speculation is he will either select Murray or Yakupov or send the pick packing for immediate help to get Edmonton into the playoffs.

“It’s not a great year to be picking No. 1, No. 2 or No 3 because it’s just not great at the top end and the depth in the draft is just not there,” said a Western Conference executive.

“It really falls off this year compared to some other drafts. There’s no (Ryan) Nugent-Hopkins, there’s no (Gabriel) Landeskog (the top two picks last year). You could argue there’d be a lot of guys last year who would be candidates to go No. 1 this year.

“With the exception of (Maple Leafs GM) Brian Burke, I don’t see a lot of those teams near the top trying to move up. My guess is you might see some teams move back because there are a lot of players there that are pretty similar.”

An Eastern scout suggested teams after No. 5 might be more than willing to either unload their selection to move out of the first round completely or slide if they believe the guy they want isn’t going to be selected.

“If you think there’s someone you’re comfortable with, you should go after him because, if you’re right, you’re going to look great. You should pay the extra price to go get the guy you want,” the scout said.

“There’s a lot of talk that some teams are willing to take two second-rounders instead of a first because if you’re going to screw up anyway, you may as well take two shots at it instead of having just one choice.”

Not everybody is down on the draft.

“There’s not as many high-end players as some previous drafts,” said an Eastern chief scout. “It’s not as deep as some previous drafts, but I really do believe that if you do your homework and follow your scouting model that you increase the probability of having a successful draft.

“The players are there. You’ve got to find them. You’ve got to nurture them. You’ve just got to do your job. I’d say after No. 10 or No. 11, it’s not great. It doesn’t go off the cliff. Depending on your needs, it seems to me there are going to be players there for teams.

“Sure, not all these players have the high probability to play like many did in other years, but there are still players who are going to be taken after No. 10 or No. 11 that are going to play. You’ve just got to make sure that you go find those guys.”

It’s going to be a challenge this year.

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

Here are the Red Line Report’s Top 10 prospects for the 2012 NHL entry draft. The scouting service released its final rankings last month and projected it could go this way.

Nail Yakupov

RW, Sarnia (OHL)

Troubled by injuries this year, but you can’t argue his skill.

Filip Forsberg

LW, Leksand (SWE)

He’s pegged by Red Line as having a good chance to be a top-six winger.

Matt Dumba

D, Red Deer (WHL)

He’s climbed the ladder, but not sure he’s going to go this high.

Ryan Murray

D, Everett (WHL)

He’s going to get consideration to go No. 1. Strong character.

Teuvu Teravainen

C, Jokerit (FIN)

Has made a strong rise with good skills.

Alex Galchenyuk

C, Sarnia (OHL)

He played only two regular-season games because of a knee injury. Big questions.

Morgan Rielly

D, Moose Jaw (WHL) Missed a lot of the season with injury. Has status has slipped.

Mikhail Grigorenko

C, Quebec (QMJHL)

Had a horrible playoff and his status could be hurt as a result.

Griffin Reinhart

D, Edmonton (WHL)

Isn’t going to wow anybody with offensive talent.

A steady player.

Andrei Vasilevski

D, UFA (Russia)Top-ranked goalie in the draft. Status could be hurt by birth certificate.

FAIL FOR NAIL OR WILL NAIL FAIL?

According to The Hockey News, the motto this season for some teams was simple: Fail for Nail.

The question is: Will Nail fail?

As the NHL’s 30 teams prepare to go to the table Friday night for the annual entry draft, Sarnia winger Nail Yakupov is the consensus No. 1 pick in a draft class that’s been labelled as “thin” and “brutal.”

So, that would make Yakupov the best of a bad lot. There is no middle ground where the talented Russian is concerned. Scouts either love him or hate him. He’s got a great personality off the ice, but can be inconsistent on the ice. Some nights he shows up, some nights he doesn’t.

Yakupov led the Sarnia Sting in scoring in his rookie season in the OHL with 101 points in 65 games in 2010-11. That was the most points by a first-year player since Patrick Kane registered 145 in 2006-07.

“He’s a dynamic player. He’s capable of playing all three forward positions. He can score and he can set up plays,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “He competes hard, but there are some questions about him.

“If you look at the track record of guys who are selected that high, there’s no grey area where his game is concerned. You either love the guy or you don’t like him.”

If the Edmonton Oilers keep the No. 1 pick in the draft, they’re expected to make Yakupov or Everett Silvertips defenceman Ryan Murray the No. 1 selection. If the Oilers are going to pass on Yakupov, they might trade back.

The 5-foot-10 Yakupov has no shortage of skills. He finished with 31 goals and 38 assists in 42 games this season. He was troubled by injuries but hasn’t hurt his status in the draft. Teams still like what he brings to the table.

The No. 1 concern about Yakupov is simple: He’s Russian.

That’s no slight. It’s reality. Nobody is sure what Russian players are going to do. The Kontinental Hockey League is paying a lot more than an NHL entry-level contract and prospects have been known to jump at the money.

“I think he’s a hell of a good player. Who knows with a Russian what they’re going to do?” said an Eastern player personnel director. “(Yakupov) could sign for one year and then run off back to the KHL. Put it this way: I would have never guessed that Nikita Filatov would be playing where he is playing right now.”

Are there character issues?

“No, but he’s Russian though,” he continued. “That’s always an intangible. Nothing is ever as it seems with Russian players.”

After watching all-star winger Alexander Ovechkin’s performance with the Washington Capitals fall off in recent years, many wonder if you want to have a Russian as one of your franchise players.

Those reputations won’t be helped any by Ilya Kovalchuk’s performance with the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup final. He had plenty of ice time, but for the most part was a no-show and didn’t compete.

Those two players shouldn’t influence what happens to Yakupov, but teams tend to look at the big picture in these situations. What Yakupov does have is a great set of hands and a great deal of skill.

“He’s a pretty good player,” said an NHL GM. “I know he’s Russian and people have questions about Russian players because of the options they have, but he did come to North America and play (junior hockey).

“I don’t think he’s like some other guys who have run back to Russia. He’s a guy who is hungry and wants to have success here. He’s a dynamic player and he’s an interesting guy.”

The GM cautioned that teams have to be careful about the criticisms levelled toward a guy such as Yakupov.

“Look, it’s easy for a team that’s not going to select him to pick him apart a little bit more,” he said.

“The teams that have spent the time to get to know the kid know he’s a really competitive guy.

“He usually smiles and he’s a pretty good interview, but there are some teams that probably won’t draft Russians. That’s just the way it is for them.”

CSB Rank: No. 1

Age: 18

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 189 lbs.

CSB scout Chris Edwards on Yakupov: “His first step and ability to control bouncing pucks, knock them down and make a play are the best of any of the guys in the draft, in my opinion. He really gets up to top speed very quickly and his hands are outstanding. Like Pavel Bure, Yakupov is dangerous every shift. He may not have been dominant on every shift like Bure was, but he created something every shift … you have to be aware where he is on the ice all the time.”

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